Using a network element management system (EMS) server, an EMS client may provision a service on a network element, such as a router. The EMS server is a server that is responsible for administering a service on a network element. The EMS client, which is operationally connected to the EMS server, allows an administrator to manage and configure the service being provisioned by the EMS server on the network element. For instance, if an administrator wishes to deploy a particular service, such as Voice Over IP (VoIP), on a particular router, the administrator may use an EMS client to communicate with an EMS server. After configuring the service using the EMS client, the administrator may deploy the service on the particular router by sending instructions from the EMS client to the EMS server to cause the EMS server to provision the service as configured on the particular router.
A significant amount of customized development is required for an EMS server to support the provisioning of a new service. For example, an interface between the EMS client and the EMS server for the new service must be defined. Also, software controlling how the EMS server persistently stores and retrieves data relating to the new service must be created and implemented on the EMS server. The EMS server also needs to be modified to support the conversion of data associated with the new service. Additionally, the EMS server must be configured to facilitate the communication of data related to the new service to the network elements.
The large amount of customized development required for an EMS server to support a new service is disadvantageous for a variety of reasons. First, as each new service requires a significant portion of software to be created from scratch, there is a real possibility of introducing one or more bugs into the customized software. Second, the great degree of customization increases the amount of time and cost of development. Finally, the customized interfaces created for each provisioned service in the EMS create a large number of interfaces between the EMS client and the EMS server. The large number of interfaces makes the user experience more complex as well as increases the amount of interfaces that must be maintained and supported by IT administrators. Based on the foregoing, there is a need in the art to support the provisioning of a new service by an EMS server without incurring the disadvantages of the above-described approaches.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.